Vulnerability · Published Apr 9, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-40153PraisonAIAgents Affected by Environment Variable Secret Exfiltration via os.path.expandvars() Bypassing shell=False in Shell Tool

High 7.4

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in PraisonAIAgents from MervinPraison. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.3% (higher than 20% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.4High
Exploit odds (30 days)0.3%top 79.7% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

PraisonAIAgents is a multi-agent teams system. Prior to 1.5.128, the execute_command function in shell_tools.py calls os.path.expandvars() on every command argument at line 64, manually re-implementing shell-level environment variable expansion despite using shell=False (line 88) for security. This allows exfiltration of secrets stored in environment variables (database credentials, API keys, cloud access keys). The approval system displays the unexpanded $VAR references to human reviewers, creating a deceptive approval where the displayed command differs from what actually executes. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.5.128.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
PyPIpraisonaiagents1.5.128GHSA-v8g7-9q6v-p3x8
PyPIpraisonaiagents1.5.128PYSEC-2026-2953

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
MervinPraison PraisonAIAgents < 1.5.128

Weakness: CWE-526 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

References